


Defender

by SoDoRoses (FairyChess)



Series: LAOFT Extras [128]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fantasy Bigotry, Gen, Implied/Referenced Death, Implied/Referenced Violence, Past/Mentioned Abusive Deceit | Janus Sanders, harrassment
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:40:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29716617
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairyChess/pseuds/SoDoRoses
Summary: Remus slips.He’s not expecting Roman, of all people, to catch him, but somehow he’s not surprised.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders
Series: LAOFT Extras [128]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1365505
Comments: 36
Kudos: 243





	Defender

**Author's Note:**

> takes place some time after Belonging
> 
> Thank you to [@trivia-goddess](trivia-goddess.tumblr.com) for beta-reading this!

Revels were... so different now.

Dee had never cared when fights broke out – he'd even encouraged it sometimes, when he found the dispute particularly funny, egging the parties on until someone was dead.

But Mr. Spooky Spider and Snowmelt seemed to take "host" to mean something entirely different, and even the slightest jabs were dispersed with firm glares and the occasional well-placed growl.

It was kind of nice, to go to a revel and not have to worry he was going to defend himself at the drop of a hat, Remus thought. He hadn't been relaxed at a revel before his quest once, not since the first one he'd come to and caught Dee's attention and-

Not thinking about that.

There was also the... favor. A different kind of favor than Remus was used to, for sure. Not so much possessive as protective – Snowmelt and the prince's crests dangling from the little charm bracelet on Remus's wrists felt less like a manacle and more like a little shiny bubble around him. It felt safe, and even that was nothing compared to walking around with his hair smelling of flowers and petrichor and knowing he had a  _family_ now, and that anyone with half a sense of smell at the revel knew it.

Maybe that was why he wasn't prepared.

Because the thing was that no matter how hard Snowmelt and V tried, they couldn't watch the whole revel. They certainly couldn't constantly watch _Remus_ who flitted around like dandelion fluff inserting himself into strangers' conversations just to see what might happen, and Remus wouldn't have wanted or asked them to. It was nice to be mother-henned for the first time in decades, but he wasn't actually a child.

Flirting was part and parcel of revels - sometimes willing, sometimes _really_ _not_ , and sometimes something in between, play-acting at participating to keep any feathers from being ruffled until he could get away. He was Seelie, skin as green as any, and that came with advances no matter how much he might want to skin the especially grabby ones.

He might get less if he wasn't quite so publicly crude, but that was one of those things that Dr. Picani would probably call a "them problem."

"Well, well, look at you,"

Rolling his eyes, Remus turned with a sharp, sarcastic smile.

"I am fucking fantastic to look at," said Remus, "Though I don't usually make a point of ogling myself in mirrors. But you look like the kind of jackass who does."

Hmm. That hadn't been quite what he meant to say. He usually didn't start quite so biting, but- something about this fae's expression was setting his teeth on edge. And it wasn't actually coming off  _flirtatious_ so much... calculating.

"Pretty jewelry," the gentry man said coldly.

"Isn't it just?" said Remus, "Wanna say any more obvious things?"

"Oh, obvious?" he said lightly, "I can do obvious. How are you feeling about being demoted from champion to a pet not even worth knighting?"

Remus did not flinch. He wasn't going to give this bastard the _fucking_ _satisfaction_ of flinching, no matter how much the words felt like a physical blow.

And anyway, it wasn't true –  S nowmelt was family. Little Bobby carried Remus's smell around as much as if they'd been born from the same tree. All of them were at least close to it. Dr. Picani had taught Remus enough coping skills at this point to drill that into the inside of Remus's skull -  _this_ fucker wasn't prying it loose now.

It wasn't true. It  _wasn't_ .

It still took him far too long to speak again.

"You're a bit late on that train," said Remus dryly, "I've been back almost a year. Everyone's moved on to bigger and better gossip than my little jaunt into the mortal world."

"Yes, I suppose it makes sense to find you utterly inconsequential,"

"Did you have an actual point or did you just come over here to try and goad me into stabbing you? Because I will totally, absolutely stab you, it is not any trouble at all-"

"It's just disappointing," said the fae, “Can't say I was shocked when the _mortal_ cozied up to the next regent over a still-warm corpse but I guess we can’t expect better from Seelie, either."

Ice bled into the well of Remus's stomach. Fuck, _fuck_ where did this guy even _come_ _from_ that he somehow knew the exact sentence that could have cut Remus to bleeding.

Never mind that Remus could happily live the rest of his life without another single person comparing him to Roman, but to do like  _that_ , to say they were both equally disloyal, like they'd done something  _wrong_ , when it was Dee who had pitted them against each other in the first place, Dee who had made it into a  _contest_ -

And Dee, who was dead, who had been dead for more than a decade but not for _Remus_ who was only just scabbing over the horrible knife wound he'd left behind, and that, _that_ was the worst part, that here Remus was, less than year later, and he _was_ wearing the new regent’s mark and his consort’s smell and the little ghost imprints of their spawns palms where he carried her, like Dee didn't even matter.

The worst part was that he was  _right_ . Did it even matter that Dee had pitted Remus and Roman against each other, when they'd both eventually just proved they'd betray him with barely a backward glance?

_Oh_ , thought Remus distantly, poking internally at the swell of wild, unrestrained panic and the feel of a terrible weight on his chest keeping him from breathing,  _I think I'm having a panic attack. That's not good._

The fae across from him was smiling cruelly, clearly perfectly aware that he'd cut Remus deeper than maybe he'd even realized he could, and Remus couldn't get enough air in his lungs to reply or even enough control over his limbs to walk away or launch at him like something feral and bloodthirsty for  _doing this to Remus_ , for making him hurt and making him hurt for  _Dee_ , again, always one step forward and two steps back, why couldn’t he just leave him  _alone_ -

A warm hand ruffled through his hair, startling him. When his vision focused from the haze of panic, Roman was standing there, his arm sliding around Remus’s shoulders, gentle and grounding.

“Hey, Stinkbug,” he said, and he was smiling – but with too much of his teeth showing, and his eyes flat and hard, “Who’s our guest?”

Swallowing hard, Remus managed to force the words out even though he felt like he had a noose around his throat.

“No idea,” he said, smiling maniacally, “He didn’t bother to introduce himself before he started acting like a colossal cock-head.”

Roman’s smile widened, and Remus abruptly wondered if Bobby’s little claws hadn’t come from one of her more mortal parents after all.

Turning that smile on the other fae, Roman spoke.

“What did you say to him?” he asked, voice light.

The fae was clearly regretting all his life choices at the moment, which was gratifying.

“… Well,” he said awkwardly, “It wasn’t… that important, I think-”

Roman moved so smoothly Remus didn’t quite realize what he was doing until it was over, and Roman had his knife- his  _iron_ knife, which made even Remus shiver a little – laid against the fae’s shirt, the thin fabric the only thing between him and a thorough, permanent scar.

“I want. To know. What you _said,_ ” Roman repeated.

Quailing, the fae looked between them, sweat beading on his forehead.

“You don’t want to make me ask a third time,” continued Roman, “And you _really_ don’t want me to go get my husbands.”

Roman’s arm was still around Remus’s shoulders, and Remus found the light, unassuming pressure grounding him. He could feel his smile becoming a little more genuine and a  _lot_ more vicious, bolstered by the presence of someone who was on his side.

“Would you like _me_ to do it?” Remus said brightly, “Since you’re so _shy_ all of a sudden,”

The fae paled even further, looking between them in panic, clearly realizing he’d picked the absolute worst fight.

“You have my apologies,” he said pathetically.

“Don’t want them,” said Roman, “Don’t particularly care that you gave them. How about you Remus, do you want some apologies?”

“Pass,” said Remus, practically vibrating – this was _fun_ , which was a very pleasant surprise since it really hadn’t started that way, “I agree with Roman. I really just want you to repeat what you said.”

Swallowing hard, the fae cleared his throat.

“Please,” he muttered.

Remus burst into laughter, bouncing slightly and elbowing Roman in the side.

“Oh, he’s _pathetic!_ ” he crowed, “This is hilarious, you talked a bunch of shit about Seelie for someone shitting his pants over one Summer and a witch who hasn’t even stabbed you, _yet_ ,”

“Oh, about Seelie?” said Roman idly, “Well, that’s interesting, I’d love to relay your thoughts to my Spring husband, it would truly be no trouble at all.”

“ _Please,”_ the fae begged, “I spoke foolishly-”

“Yes, _you did,_ ” said Roman, suddenly snarling with every trace of faux-friendliness gone, “And now you don’t even have the spine to say it again. You _are_ pathetic, and a coward besides.”

He tapped the flat side of the blade sharply on the fae’s sternum, and the fae made a pitiful, terrified noise.

Roman turned to look at Remus.

“Up to you,” he said, voice lighter, “I’m allowed to stab him, my dear husbands have already given me the go-ahead.”

The fae whimpered.

Remus looked him over. He’d dug his thumb into a scabbed wound, and it had bled, but Remus didn't feel quite cut open. And it was hard to feel anything but vindictive pity for him, when he so clearly didn't have the spine to back up his cruelty.

Empty words from a coward.

Remus shrugged.

“What do I care?” said Remus, “He’s not important enough to stab.”

Laughing, Roman squeezed his shoulders comfortingly, like he understood all the things Remus wasn’t saying. He turned back to the fae, tapping him with the knife again.

“The next time I see you at a revel,” said Roman, “I’m going to tell my husbands all about you harassing our favorite Summer. So it’s probably safer for you to just not show up.”

The fae visibly slumped in relief and Roman wrinkled his nose in disgust.

“Pathetic,” he repeated, “Get lost,”

You would have thought he was being chased by the actual hunt the fae took off so fast, and Remus burst into another fit of delighted laughter.

“That was fun,” said Remus, “Haven’t seen you threaten anyone in a while, you’ve gotten better at it.”

“Wow, thanks,” deadpanned Roman, ruffling Remus’s hair before dropping his arm and jerking his head.

“Come sit with us for a minute,” he said, “Everyone was worried but I figured you wouldn’t want all four of us swarming you for one asshole.”

Nodding, Remus followed after him as Roman walked in the direction of the little private, curtained-off area that V kept to himself and his consorts, with the occasional visit from other friends. Roman held up the curtain and Remus passed through, finding himself immediately cornered by Snowmelt.

“Was there an altercation?” he demanded hotly, taking Remus’s face in his hands gingerly without waiting for an answer, examining him.

“Nah,” said Roman, “I ran him off – iron makes an excellent threat. He shouldn’t be an issue again.”

“Are you okay?” said Snowmelt, clearly addressing Remus this time.

“Yeah,” said Remus, half-surprising himself, “Roman handled it.”

“Hmm,” Snowmelt hummed, “Good.”

He bumped Remus’s temple with his own gently, and Remus leaned into it, scenting him back. Snowmelt gave him one last squeeze of the shoulders before stepping away.

V and Shrike stood behind him, V looking a little hesitant and both of them worried and Remus gave him the widest smile he could manage.

“You gonna hug me too?”

“If you want me to,” the prince replied immediately, and Shrike didn’t even bother to answer before launching across the space between them and squeezing Remus around the middle.

“Are you sure you’re okay, kiddo?” asked Shrike.

Remus nodded, hesitating a second before cautiously running his face through his curls. V had crossed the space too, and gently brushed a hand through Remus’s hair, roughing it up.

“Okay,” said the prince, “You can stay back here as long as you want.”

Nodding again, Remus managed not to do anything too pathetic like ask for another hug as soon as Shrike let go. He patted Remus’s face once, and then they moved away, back to the little open-air sitting space.

Remus watched them go and sit, something warm and stupidly, embarrassingly fuzzy squirming in his stomach. Roman moved in close in their place, lowering his voice.

“You’re sure you’re okay?” he said quietly.

Nodding, Remus elbowed him in the side.

“Yeah,” he replied, “Much better. Careful, witch, people are gonna start thinking you like me or something.”

“I do,” said Roman, blithe and unflinching, “And it isn’t a joke, Remus. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

For the second time that night, Remus felt a sentence like a punch to the stomach. Mouth gaping, he stared at Roman with wide eyes, and Roman smiled gently.

“And you don’t owe me anything,” he continued, “I know you’re- a lot closer with L, but I wanted you to know. I’m on your side.”

“… Oh,” said Remus, voice cracking, “Okay.”

Roman reached out and squeezed his arm.

“I’m gonna hug you now,” croaked Remus, and there was only a fraction of a moment for him to register Roman’s surprised face before he did just that.

Roman’s arms hovered above Remus’s back in the air awkwardly for a moment, and Remus just continued to squeeze him around the ribs and hide his face in Roman’s shoulder. Slowly, carefully, like Remus was something precious, Roman wrapped one arm around Remus’s shoulders again and rested one on the back of his head.

“Oh, buddy,” murmured Roman, holding him tighter, which is how Remus realized he was trembling, “I’m sorry. I should have said it sooner.”

“S’okay,” Remus said thickly.

Pressing his face into Remus’s hair, Roman softly petted the back of his head, until Remus was slumped with his weight nearly half on Roman and unable to resist rubbing his cheek on his shoulder.

“I- sorry,” he muttered, stopping himself abruptly.

“I don’t mind, buddy,” said Roman, dropping a kiss on top of Remus’s head that made a lump rise in his throat, “You’re fine.”

Hesitating for a moment, Remus did it again, and Roman just squeezed him tighter.

Remus almost could have laughed – if someone had tried to make him hug Roman twelve years ago, he might have assumed they were trying to get him killed.

But here, wrapped in arms that only smelled like family, all Remus felt was  _safe._

**Author's Note:**

> you can also find me over on tumblr [@tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors](tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors.tumblr.com) or in the laoft server [here](https://discord.gg/jS4CD5qHMB)


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